Mills v. McDuffa

On May 24, 2006, the trial court dismissed for want of prosecution plaintiff Christopher S. Mills’s personal injury complaint. On October 19, 2007, Mills filed a petition for relief from judgment (735 ILCS 5/2 — 1401 (West 2006)), and defendant Ryan D. McDuffa filed a response brief. The court granted the petition after reviewing the record and listening to argument. McDuffa appealed. Because the court’s grant of relief to Mills was functionally equivalent to a grant of summary judgment on his section 2 — 1401 petition, and because Mills did not establish that he was entitled to such relief…